The Washington University CNRU will focus on the "Regulation of Nutrient Metabolism and Function in Health and Disease" and will enhance our understanding of the basic and clinical aspects of nutrition in the prevention, etiology, pathophysiology, and therapy of nutrition-related diseases. The research activities of the CNRU will involve 5 major areas (with related clinical targets noted in parentheses): 1) lipid (obesity, dyslipoproteinemias, atherosclerosis, diabetes, neurological disease), 2) carbohydrate (diabetes, obesity), 3) protein (wasting disorders, sarcopenia of aging, inflammatory disease), 4) major minerals (metabolic bone disease), and 5) micronutrients and antioxidants (atherosclerosis, cancer, aging, Wilson's Disease, hemachromatosis). The presence of a CNRU at Washington University School of Medicine will enhance the existing framework of nutrition-related research by expanding current nutrition research activities, attracting established investigators to the nutrition field, fostering interactions between investigators, and encouraging young investigators to pursue nutrition research careers. The Washington University CNRU has a talented and diverse research base consisting of 50 investigators from 17 departments. These investigators have 93 nutrition-related grants (78 from federal agencies and 15 from other organizations) generating 12.7 million dollars per year in direct costs. We propose to establish three Biomedical Research Core laboratories. The Clinical Science Research Core will provide services to assess body composition, energy expenditure, and substrate metabolism. Core personnel will offer assistance in study design, study subject recruitment, performance of experimental protocols, sample processing, data analysis, and biostatistics. The Animal Model Research Core will provide services to investigators using murine models relevant to nutrition. This core will maintain breeding colonies of genetically modified mice and provide services in genotyping, training in breeding and animal husbandry, biochemical analyses, body composition analyses, quantification of atherosclerosis, and exercise studies. The Biomolecular Analyses Core will provide services to permit structural identification and quantitation of nutrition-related biomolecules. In addition, the CNRU will fund 4 Pilot/Feasibility Awards and 1 Named New Investigator Award. The School of Medicine has provided considerable support to establish a CNRU, including space and equipment for the Biomedical Research Core laboratories and financial support for the Pilot/Feasibility and Named New Investigator Program.